


we're nothing more than friends

by daisieflowers



Series: observations and reflections through the eyes of nancy wheeler [1]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-19
Updated: 2019-08-19
Packaged: 2020-09-07 17:11:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20313076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daisieflowers/pseuds/daisieflowers
Summary: Nancy attends the wedding of an ex and does some reflecting and observing.





	we're nothing more than friends

Nancy took a deep breath as she entered the large hall that was the location to the reception she was attending. Some guests had already arrived, mingling between each other in their best formal wear and Nancy subconsciously patted down the skirt of the dress she chose to wear for the event. Beside her stood Mike, now a good foot taller than his older sister and looking as handsome as ever in the suit he had rented for the evening.

It felt a little surreal to be back in all honesty, it had been 10 years since she last saw him, when she hightailed it out of Hawkins and never looked back. When she had received the invite all them months back, she had been shocked, since neither of them had made a conscious effort to stay in touch once all the monster hunting was completed. But then again, things like that can bond you for life, no matter how many years go by.

Nancy and Mike head over to the table they are assigned to, not recognizing anyone in the room yet and neither of them wanting to make small talk with a bunch of strangers who will ask how they know the couple. Nancy can’t exactly tell them that she knows the groom from high school when they previously dated and fought monsters together. They’d look at her as if she had a second head.

She chats with Mike as they wait for any familiar faces to turn up, if they are invited then they can only hope that so were all of their old friends. The friends they lost touch with, friends they see maybe twice a year over the holidays, the friends who it will be nice to catch up with. Mike is grouchy and complains about the suit and how hot the hall is. He had been reluctant to come as he had never been a fan of the groom back in the day, had never managed to warm to him the same way the others had, and he said it was weird they had been invited, but Nancy had managed to persuade him to accompany her, under the pretense of her needed him as a buffer as well as him getting to catch up his friends.

Max arrives next, looking gorgeous in her navy dress that floats to her knees and compliments her pale skin tone brilliant. It’s a little awkward after the initial reintroductions. Out of all of the children, Max was the one Nancy knew the least. She had been late to the party and then throughout high school things had been up and down between Max and Mike, with her younger brother never particularly warming to the red headed female and so Nancy never felt the need to get to know her as well as the others.

It wasn’t long after Max was seated that the awkward tension was slightly broken by the arrival of Byers/Hopper family. The day they had discovered that Hopper was still very much alive and had broken him out of the Russian facility he was held captured in was still a very vivid memory for Nancy. It had luckily been the last time they had fought with the upside down and their world, and it was still a surreal feeling to see Hopper alive and well.

Since that day, him and Joyce had married, finally bringing the Hopper and Byers family together, it had been a lovely, intimate ceremony and Nancy had enjoyed the wedding immensely. Both Joyce and Hopper looked just as happy today as they had all those years back, greeting everyone with smiles on their faces. Behind them stood the children, Nancy stood up to greet Jonathan in a polite hug, smiling softly at the boy who she once thought she might end up marrying. It was a little awkward but that was to be expected.

Behind her, Mike and El also embraced in an awkward hug greeting, the pair had broken up when Mike ventured off to college and El stayed behind to catch up with all the education she had missed throughout her childhood. Things had been awkward ever since the breakup since they were both each other’s first loves and that will always mean something. Mike moves to greet Will after his quick embrace with El, while El moves to greet Max and the two girls start an animated conversation immediately, falling right back into the dynamic they established back in high school and soon the two are giggling like no time has passed. Nancy isn’t sure if the girls stayed in touch over the years.

Mike is now also engaged with Will, catching up with his best friend and making plans to meet up away from the wedding. Nancy makes small talk with Jonathan, he tells her about his work as a wedding photographer and Nancy enjoys the irony that he is a wedding photographer but is not doing the photos for this wedding. She tells him all about her work at The Washington Post. It’s nice and feels familiar and Nancy doesn’t feel as awkward anymore.

The room is getting busier now, more people showing up and the group continue to scan for familiar faces, unsure of who was invited and who wasn’t.

Eventually Lucas and Erica arrived, by their point of arrival the hall is mostly full and it is expected that the happy couple will arrive at any time soon. Out of their small group sat at the table, the Sinclair’s had been the only ones to have been invited to the actual ceremony and not just the reception like everyone else. Erica is going off about how beautiful the ceremony was as she approaches the table. She is just as loud and confident as she always has been and it makes Nancy smile because she couldn’t help but have a soft spot for the youngest Sinclair sibling. Lucas was rolling his eyes at his sister, despite the fond smile on his face as he greets his old friends with enthusiasm.

Lucas has always been a happy go lucky type guy and there is no awkwardness between him and everyone at the table, him and Max holding no real grudge or tension between them since their own break up, and so with the Sinclair siblings at the table everything seems to be more at ease. Everyone is seated by now and soon the arrival of the happy couple is announced, everyone is stood to applaud them and Nancy strains her neck to catch a glimpse of the bride who she has never actually meet or seen before.

She spots Steve first since he stands tall at just under 6ft with his hair still adding several inches to his height. He looks good in the tuxedo that includes a pale blue bow tie and hugs his body nicely, and the smile on his face is dazzling. It has been many years since they ended their very unstable relationship but something small in Nancy still aches because no matter how much time passes her heart will always hold a small piece of Steve Harrington.

Nancy let’s her eyes look towards the bride. She doesn’t know why, but she isn’t what’s she was expecting. In her mind she expected Steve to have married some tall, glamorous girl with perfect makeup and blonde hair. She wasn’t sure why that was what she expected, she knew that was very stereotypical of her and she felt bad.

The bride was completely different to the image in her mind; she was still beautiful but in a more subtle, natural way. She was smaller than Nancy expected, reaching Steve’s shoulder. She has shock red hair, similar in colour to Max’s, that falls down her back in light waves; her pale skin is dusted with freckles and she looks beautiful in the straight style dress that falls down to the floor and has a large train on the back.

She is not what Nancy expected but she is obviously beautiful and very happy, along with Steve. They look good together. In a subtle way she reminds Nancy of the girl Steve dated throughout her senior year, Nancy doesn’t remember her much because she never really got to know her, she just knows that her and Steve became attached at the hip and that she was involved in the last two battles with the upside down.

Everyone in the room cheers and applauds the couple who smile and give a wave in thanks as they head forward towards the large table along the back wall that is set up for the wedding party. Following behind are the bridesmaids and groomsmen. Nancy doesn’t recognize the three girls in bridesmaids dresses but she didn’t expect to. She recognizes Dustin immediately, who is part of the groomsmen; he looks exactly the same as always but he’s just taller now and his teeth have finally filled in. He’s got his usual, bright boyish smile on his face and looks positively delighted. He was walking arm and arm with a girl who makes Nancy do a complete double take.

The girl looks exactly like Steve’s girlfriend from high school, the one who he was attached to, the one who witnessed the two attacks. She looks a little different, her hair is longer now and has pink streaks through it; she looks taller as well. She’s wearing a formal dress that is different to the pale purple that the bridesmaids are wearing, but is too formal to be an average guest dress. It’s a blue dress that falls to the floor and matches the colour that Steve and his groomsmen are wearing.

Nancy furrows her brow, confused about why she would be dressed to fit in with the wedding party, about why she would be there. Nancy isn’t sure she would be happy to have her future husband’s ex as part of the wedding party. They must have ended on really good terms; which seems more out of character since she never seemed the type for Steve to date, let alone remain a close friendship with. Plus, she was dressed in the same colour as the groomsmen, not the bridesmaids, which is a sign that she is part of his party and not his new brides.

Nancy keeps her eyes trained on the party as they make their way forward to the large, long bridal table. She watches, as the girl whose name she cannot place for the life of her, takes the seat on Steve’s right. The seat typically reserved for the best man.

Nancy keeps her eye on the pair during the dinning part of the evening. She briefly considers asking Erica about them because out of them all she thinks the youngest Sinclair would know the most about the pair, after all she was part of their initial party back when they fought off the Russian’s. But she didn’t want to come across as stupid or arrogant for not knowing about the other female; and she didn’t want to draw attention to the fact she was interested in the pair or that she wanted to know about them.

She watched as Steve interacts with her; his main focus was on his new wife who he looked absolutely bestowed with and kept her within touch at all times. But he would often be engaged with the other girl, laughing out loud at something she said or making her laugh. The other girl also happily engaged with the bride who seemed happy to converse with the other female. She tunes out most of her table, unsure why she is so fascinated with the duo but keeps a close eye on them anyway.

The food is delicious and Nancy can appreciate the spread, it’s going nicely, as is the whole reception from the decor to the venue. Nancy briefly thinks it must have cost a fair bit, although the Harrington’s always did have money. That’s when it also hits Nancy, letting her eyes wander down the wedding party table before sweeping across the room. There is no sign of Steve’s parents anywhere.

Nancy knows that the Harrington’s are not dead; she has seen them in Hawkins when she comes back and knows they still live in the house Steve grew up in. Nancy also knows that he has always had a strained relationship with his parents, but surely it wasn’t so bad they would miss his wedding? But there was no sign of them, unless they had only attended the ceremony.

Nancy continues to watch the groom and his ex throughout the meal, watches them interact with ease and comfort. She watched them both interact with the entire wedding party with excitement and certain glow, watches as one of her brothers’ best friends engages animatedly with both the groom and the female. She knows the curly haired guy was with them on that faithful day all those years back when they came face to face with the Russian spies, but Dustin’s loyalty always lay with Steve and she didn’t think the younger boy had much of a relationship with the girl apart from through Steve.

Eventually when the food has been served and champagne drunk, it is time for the toasts. A man who looked to be in his late 50s stood up, tapping at his glass with his knife to gain everyone’s attention. From where he was sat and his age, Nancy guesses he is probably the father of the bride.

“First of all I would just like to thank everyone who has come out today to celebrate with my beautiful daughter and her new husband. It means a lot to all of us, and second I would like to start the toasts by passing over to my new son in laws best friend who I’m sure has some great stories to share with us all. So without further ado, I would like to pass over to Robin.” The father of the bride says, raising his glass before taking his seat. Of course, now it’s come back to her, the girl is called Robin.

Robin stands from her seat beside Steve with a bright, slightly cheeky smile on her face and Nancy watches as Steve brings his lip through his teeth but keep the fond look on his face as he looks up at the girl named Robin. Nancy is more confused than ever.

“Thank you for the introduction, and once again, thank you everyone who has come out to celebrate with these two awesome people.” Robin says with a huge smile herself, reaching over to place her hand on Steve’s shoulder and squeeze slightly.

“Where do I even begin with the dingus. Let me tell you, that day all them years back when the manager of Scoops Ahoy told me that my new co-worker was none other than Steve ‘the hair’ Harrington I never would have guessed that I would one day be standing up here as the best man at his wedding.” Robin says with a huge smile while everyone else in the room chuckles.

“It surprised me so much to learn that Steve was actually a pretty awesome person. Sure, the dingus can be a little annoying sometimes, with his weird obsession over his hair, his terrible taste in women, that is before Daisy came along of course.” Ouch thought Nancy, she was a long time ago sure, but had she been part of that list of terrible girls? Maybe not since Robin didn’t really know them when they were together, so Robin was probably only talking about the girls he dated since him and Nancy broke it off.

“He can be a little dim sometimes even though he knows a lot of stuff to get him by in life, he is probably the dumbest yet cleverest person I know. He has terrible taste in music and his taste in movies has only gone up slightly thanks to working alongside me in a movie store for a number of months. You drive me crazy all the time but you also make me laugh more than any person I have ever met.

Daisy, you have met one special man in the dingus here. You’ve found a ready-made babysitter...” she looks towards Dustin then who chuckles and Nancy hears the rest of the younger ones on her table chuckle as well before Robin continue

“...you’ve found a comedy genius, a brilliant hair stylist, and the best quality ever you have found someone with the kindest, most accepting heart I have ever met. Like I said, when I first started working at Scoops with this one I didn’t know I had just stumbled into my best friend. I also didn’t know that I had met the man who would forever give me courage to be myself. The man who never judged me, never tried to change me or make me feel low about who I was.

You inspired me to be who I am, you give me confidence that I can be myself and not face judgement or ridicule. You have helped me in more ways than I can even think of ever since that faithful night all those years ago when we were just two teenagers on a bathroom floor. Daisy you have found the best, you are the luckiest girl in the world to be able to call Steve Harrington your husband. But please make sure you treat him right since I really don’t want to have to take you on in a fight.

Daisy, keep my Steve happy please. Dingus, thank you for standing by my side and fighting off the monsters. To the happy couple.” Robin finished with a raise of her glass as everyone cheered. Nancy could see that the girls eyes had begun to water and Steve looked like he had tears in his eyes as he stood up to embrace his best friend in a tight hug.

The toasts continued with others but Nancy didn’t listen much, she was still thinking about Robin’s speech. Had they all been so wrong all those years ago? She had been so sure that Steve had dated Robin after the battle at the mall, the two had been inseparable, they were always seen together, including working together, neither of them dated anyone else while they were still in Hawkins and Nancy is pretty sure she remembers Dustin saying that the pair had moved in together. Had they really gone through all that as just friends?

She wonders if she could ask Erica about it? Erica definitely knows the most about them than anyone else at the table. She was part of their secret little club that had fought off the Russian’s. She could maybe casually slip into conversation about if Robin and Steve ever really dated? Erica would be the one to know if anyone does, except maybe Dustin but he’s on the top table anyway and so it would be harder to grab him for conversation.

After the toasts have been done and the cake has been cut, it was time for the couple to share their first dance. It’s a beautiful dance as the couple hold each other close and sway along to Can You Feel the Love Tonight by Elton John and Nancy finds her heart aches, aches to find someone she can share a moment like this with. Once the first dance is done then the couple invites more to join them on the dance floor, Nancy watches as Robin and Dustin head out together with bright smiles followed by other bridesmaids.

Guests in the audience then begin to fill the dance floor, Hopper asks Joyce and they disappear into the crowd, Lucas asks Max for old times sake and the red head follows her old school boyfriend with a smile. Nancy is pleasantly surprised when Mike asks El who agrees but with reservation and smiles at her younger brother. Will cautiously asks Erica since they are the only two left and Erica agrees but with her normal attitude attached which makes Nancy chuckle.

“Would you like to dance?” Jonathan finally asks, and Nancy agrees because even if it will be a little awkward it will be less so than sitting at the table trying to make small talk. The song playing now is a little more upbeat than the previous one so Nancy and Jonathan don’t need to wrap their arms around each other in loving embrace or anything close; they can simply dance together.

Nancy lets her eyes sweep the dance floor once again as she takes in the happy guests, she watches her brother awkwardly dance with El while his friends Lucas and Max try to hold back their laughter at their expense. Her eyes catch Hopper and Joyce who are a little further away from the crowd on the outskirts of the dance floor; Joyce is laughing at something Hopper just said and Hopper has a large smile on his face. Nancy feels warmth inside her at the sight, so happy for the two.

Her eyes sweep back to the main couple, they have now emerged with their friends, dancing with two bridesmaids, Robin and Dustin. Sometimes Nancy thinks about just how crazy life is, back in high school she never would have guessed that her little brothers dorky friend would become one of Steve Harrington’s best friends. So many awful things happened as a result of the Upside Down, but many good things happened as well. Steve was one of them, Nancy wonders if Steve would have become the man he was today without the upside down, or if he would still be the douchebag that treated others like shit. She likes to think he would have managed to turn his life around.

“Take a photo, they last longer.” Jonathan pulls her out of her thoughts and she turns to face him with confusion on her face.

“I’m not sure what you mean.” Nancy says even though she does, her cheeks feel hot slightly after having been caught staring.

“Your eyes have barely left Steve and Robin all night with a look of deep thought on your face like you are contemplating something big. What has got you so rattled.” Jonathan asks her as they slow down their dancing. Nancy hesitates about telling him what her weird obsession suddenly is, feels like she’ll be judged. She glances back once again, now Steve’s wife is dancing with Robin while Steve talks to Dustin. They all look happy.

“It’s just, it seems a little surreal to me that Steve and Robin are such close friends. I mean, it’s great when couples can break and up and remain friends, and if like to think that you and me are still friends. But I don’t think I would be very happy if I had a fiancé who wanted his ex-girlfriend to be his best man at his wedding.” Nancy tells him, bringing her lip between her teeth once she has finished because she feels stupid thinking so much into this.

“But Nancy, Steve and Robin never dated?” Jonathan tells her, posing it as a question with a fury of the eyebrows even though it seems more like a statement.

“What are you talking about, they dated all through Senior Year after the Starcourt Mall incident and then headed off together after everything went down and we all wanted to get out of Hawkin’s.” Nancy tells him, Jonathan had moved away for Senior Year so he hadn’t been around but Nancy had. It had been a lonely year, no Barb, no Jonathan. She had spent a year people watching and she remembers just how inseparable Steve and Robin had been, they worked at family video together, he picked her up from school most days, she was sure they spent nights at each other’s.

“Nancy, Robin is gay.” Jonathan tells her, stopping Nancy short. “Her and Steve have been best friends since Starcourt Mall, but nothing more. Robin likes girls just as much as Steve does.” Jonathan finishes and Nancy feels like things slowly start to slot into place. It would explain why they were so close now if they never had any romance between them. Why his new wife was totally okay with his friendship with her. It could explain some of the cryptic’s from her speech, such as the stuff about Steve giving her courage to be herself.

But then if this was true then how did Jonathan know? She was pretty sure this wasn’t common knowledge, she had certainly not known that Robin was into girls rather than boys.

“How do you know?” Nancy finds herself asking because why is it that she is so out of the loop?

“She helped Will a lot back when he was first coming to terms with his own sexuality. From what he’s told me, Robin has figured it out somehow and told him that if he ever needed to talk to someone who had been in the same boat as him that she was always there to listen. For a while she became the person who he talked to about all his feelings, and eventually she gave him the courage to tell people about his sexuality.

Will said that she told him that the people who matter to him won’t care about his sexuality; and that if they do have an issue with him liking other boys then they weren’t worth having in your life. She was right because none of us cared that Will likes boys, we just want him to be happy.” Jonathan tells her, the song had finished and so Nancy had directed them back to the table while she listened.

She remembers the time of learning Will was not like everyone else, that he was more interested in males than females. It wasn’t a huge shock, she always knew Will had very little interest in the opposite sex. But still, it wasn’t something many people really talked about. She didn’t know any other gay people and she definitely didn’t know that the girl who she thought was dating her ex-boyfriend was gay. They lived in a small town, you just didn’t come across gay people that often; and those who were gay usually did their best to hide the fact. Billy Hargrove came to mind. He had hid his sexuality so much that no one knew until Max found a diary of his several months after he met his faithful end with the mindflayer.

“It’s nice that Will had someone to talk to, he said before Robin that he felt alone because he hadn’t met someone who was like him. All his friends were into girls and he was the odd one out. Robin said that she understood because it could be a lonely place if you had no one to share it with and that she learnt that the most important thing was to feel like she could talk to someone.

I think that’s why her and Steve are so close. If the information Will give me is correct, he was the first ever person Robin ever told about liking girls; and when she did tell him he didn’t judge her or try to change her. He simply accepted her as she was and then helped her to accept it herself. Crazy to think, that Steve Harrington, who fought me in the back alley of Hawkins and called me a faggot, became Robin’s biggest alley throughout her life.” Jonathan says, glancing over at the groom and Nancy does the same. _Come on Eileen_was now playing through the speakers, Nancy watches as Steve, Robin, Dustin and Erica come together and start jumping about together.

Nancy is taken back to when they were younger, when they all came together for a BBQ soon after they got Hopper back as a mini celebration. Robin and Steve had got a little tipsy and danced around the garden to this very song, Dustin and Erica has joined in and the four of them had danced around, singing loudly, almost like they didn’t have a care in the world.

Nancy mulls over Jonathan’s last sentence. Thinks about just how far Steve Harrington has come from when they were dating. They were never right for each other, he cared too much and she didn’t care enough. But, despite all that she knows their relationship did some good, it had allowed for Steve to pull himself away from the toxic friendships he was in, it meant he was able to realize how awful his friends were, and that he could be a better person.

They may not have worked as a couple, but Nancy can recognize just how great of a guy Steve is. From all the help he gave the boys back in the day, in particular Dustin since Nancy knows a lot of Dustin’s confidence comes from his friendship with Steve, to all the help he gave everyone when it came to fighting with the upside down, to according to Jonathan, being Robin’s best ally in life.

Steve Harrington was pretty great, and as she glanced over once more, watched as the new bride joined the group of four and Steve’s smile grew impossibly wider. Nancy couldn’t help but feel proud, proud of the man Steve was able to become.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not sure what this is, I had an idea about how Robin would definitely be the best man at Steve's future wedding and how she would give a speech about how he give her courage to be herself through his support of her sexuality and then this happened. 
> 
> This is my first stranger things fanfiction so I hope it is okay and not to ooc. The idea that Nancy would have been oblivious to Robin's sexuality came from my mum after we watched s3 of stranger things and she said it was brave of them to have Robin come out because in small towns no one really talked about sexuality and everyone was just presumed to be straight. So it doesn't seem to far fetched that Nancy would just assume Robin was straight since I can't see Robin telling Nancy about her sexuality or confidently been out while still in Hawkins.
> 
> Yes, in my head canon both Will and Billy are also gay, because come on it is so obvious and is why I included the little tidbits about them. And also yes, none of them managed to go the distance and actually stay together past high school, sorry I just don't see them having much of a future outside the Hawkin's bubble. Except of course, Joyce and Hopper.
> 
> Anyway hopefully you like it, and I have an idea for a stranger things fic so there might be more to come. If you like the comments and kudos are appreciated. Thank you.


End file.
